A problem with applying visa & green card

[betty27353 0]

Hi, I'm totally new here I hope you guys could help.

My Japanese girlfriend is getting married to her American boyfriend.

They met in Los Angeles 3 years ago when she was studying at the language school. She currently live in Japan.

She was working in LA with a work permit for a while but she didn't realize it was expired for 2 months.

Of course she had paid taxes every month n she tried to do everything right.

She has never been in trouble in the US for anything else.

She's really concerned about this because it could be a problem when she applies for K-1(?) visa and also green card.

I don't know if immigration does even care about this because there are so many illegal immigrants in the US

but I want to make sure everything will be alright for her.

So what do you think about her situation?

Can a lawyer take care of this kind of problem?

Thank you for reading this.

[payxibka 10,048]

Hi, I'm totally new here I hope you guys could help.

My Japanese girlfriend is getting married to her American boyfriend.

They met in Los Angeles 3 years ago when she was studying at the language school. She currently live in Japan.

She was working in LA with a work permit for a while but she didn't realize it was expired for 2 months.

Of course she had paid taxes every month n she tried to do everything right.

She has never been in trouble in the US for anything else.

She's really concerned about this because it could be a problem when she applies for K-1(?) visa and also green card.

I don't know if immigration does even care about this because there are so many illegal immigrants in the US

but I want to make sure everything will be alright for her.

So what do you think about her situation?

Can a lawyer take care of this kind of problem?

Thank you for reading this.

K-1 (a visa for a fiance(e)) and being married (being a spouse) are mutually exclusive. The USCIS does in fact care about this

[pushbrk 13,525]

Hi, I'm totally new here I hope you guys could help.

My Japanese girlfriend is getting married to her American boyfriend.

They met in Los Angeles 3 years ago when she was studying at the language school. She currently live in Japan.

She was working in LA with a work permit for a while but she didn't realize it was expired for 2 months.

Of course she had paid taxes every month n she tried to do everything right.

She has never been in trouble in the US for anything else.

She's really concerned about this because it could be a problem when she applies for K-1(?) visa and also green card.

I don't know if immigration does even care about this because there are so many illegal immigrants in the US

but I want to make sure everything will be alright for her.

So what do you think about her situation?

Can a lawyer take care of this kind of problem?

Thank you for reading this.

K-1 (a visa for a fiance(e)) and being married (being a spouse) are mutually exclusive. The USCIS does in fact care about this

Sounds like the "getting married" is the future plan after the K1 visa is secured. An overstay of less than 180 days probably won't require a hardship waiver but you might want to ask in the waivers forum.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi, I'm totally new here I hope you guys could help.

My Japanese girlfriend is getting married to her American boyfriend.

They met in Los Angeles 3 years ago when she was studying at the language school. She currently live in Japan.

She was working in LA with a work permit for a while but she didn't realize it was expired for 2 months.

Of course she had paid taxes every month n she tried to do everything right.

She has never been in trouble in the US for anything else.

She's really concerned about this because it could be a problem when she applies for K-1(?) visa and also green card.

I don't know if immigration does even care about this because there are so many illegal immigrants in the US

but I want to make sure everything will be alright for her.

So what do you think about her situation?

Can a lawyer take care of this kind of problem?

Thank you for reading this.

K-1 (a visa for a fiance(e)) and being married (being a spouse) are mutually exclusive. The USCIS does in fact care about this

I believe if her overstay was less than 90 days, it will not be a problem. Yes they care about this! A lawyer can absolutely NOT do anything about this, but they will gladly tell you they can "try" and take lots of your money in the process. Imkigration laws are pretty clear and she is not a US citizen, resident or even in the USA. She has no "rights" so to speak and if the USCIS says "NO", that's it. NO. There is no legal or appeal process for her. There is nothing an attorney can do. She overstayed her visa, it is a fact, the attorney cannot change facts. I have read in many thread here and overstay of less than 90 days is not a problem IF she left on her own and was not deported. I think there is another level of overstay, less than 180 days, that also does not disqualify her. Check the forums, put in search words and you will get your answer, it is a fairly common topic here.

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Gary lives up to his signature again.

WARNING: I HATE IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS AND WILL FREQUENTLY STATE MY OPINION ON THIS. IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY THIS, PLEASE DO NOT READ MY POSTS.

[payxibka 10,048]

I believe if her overstay was less than 90 days, it will not be a problem. Yes they care about this! A lawyer can absolutely NOT do anything about this, but they will gladly tell you they can "try" and take lots of your money in the process. Imkigration laws are pretty clear and she is not a US citizen, resident or even in the USA. She has no "rights" so to speak and if the USCIS says "NO", that's it. NO. There is no legal or appeal process for her. There is nothing an attorney can do. She overstayed her visa, it is a fact, the attorney cannot change facts. I have read in many thread here and overstay of less than 90 days is not a problem IF she left on her own and was not deported. I think there is another level of overstay, less than 180 days, that also does not disqualify her. Check the forums, put in search words and you will get your answer, it is a fairly common topic here.

The USCIS does NOT care about overstays and will approve the petition.... the consulate will however care and dependent on the length of the overstay may refuse the visa...

[betty27353 0]

Hi, I'm totally new here I hope you guys could help.

My Japanese girlfriend is getting married to her American boyfriend.

They met in Los Angeles 3 years ago when she was studying at the language school. She currently live in Japan.

She was working in LA with a work permit for a while but she didn't realize it was expired for 2 months.

Of course she had paid taxes every month n she tried to do everything right.

She has never been in trouble in the US for anything else.

She's really concerned about this because it could be a problem when she applies for K-1(?) visa and also green card.

I don't know if immigration does even care about this because there are so many illegal immigrants in the US

but I want to make sure everything will be alright for her.

So what do you think about her situation?

Can a lawyer take care of this kind of problem?

Thank you for reading this.

K-1 (a visa for a fiance(e)) and being married (being a spouse) are mutually exclusive. The USCIS does in fact care about this

I believe if her overstay was less than 90 days, it will not be a problem. Yes they care about this! A lawyer can absolutely NOT do anything about this, but they will gladly tell you they can "try" and take lots of your money in the process. Imkigration laws are pretty clear and she is not a US citizen, resident or even in the USA. She has no "rights" so to speak and if the USCIS says "NO", that's it. NO. There is no legal or appeal process for her. There is nothing an attorney can do. She overstayed her visa, it is a fact, the attorney cannot change facts. I have read in many thread here and overstay of less than 90 days is not a problem IF she left on her own and was not deported. I think there is another level of overstay, less than 180 days, that also does not disqualify her. Check the forums, put in search words and you will get your answer, it is a fairly common topic here.

Thank you for your answer. I should have made this more clearly.

SHE DID NOT OVERSTAYED. I meant her work permit had been expired for 2 months.

She came home to Japan before her student visa had expired.

I am sorry about this. Thanks again.

[KimandRuss 0]

Of course we know that some can be a waste of time but there are still plenty of people here who now have their SO's with them in the U.S. only because of a 'good' immigration attorney was involved.

You can state your opinion all you want but it is against the TOS at VJ, which you agreed to when joining, to advise against hiring an attorney.

OP...Your best option is to check with the folks in the waiver forum (as suggested above) to understand if any additional documents should be submitted with the petition due to her working without authorization.

good luck and welcome to VJ

Edited March 1, 2009 by KimandRuss